C.A.: 2001 Upper Deck Victory Matt Wise

 (Greetings on Eclipse Eve. The predicted gridlock has still not happened here. But I did go to the grocery store during a usual off-hours period on Friday and found lines at all the registers. We'll see what happens tomorrow. It's time for Cardboard Appreciation, this is the 337th in a series):

 

I've mentioned a few times how when I was a kid, I spent an inordinate amount of time studying the ground for discarded baseball cards.

When you're little, ground activity is very important. I mean, you're right there. Dirt, worms, bugs, sticks, grass, it's all there for the examining. I kept my eyes focused and every once in a great, great while, I'd strike gold and find a baseball card.

But for the amount of time I looked at the ground, on trips to and from school, or my friends houses, or an errand to get milk at the grocery store, I came up empty 99 times out of 100, maybe 999 times out of 1,000.

Still, the chance -- like a dog on a walk finding a pizza crust that one time two years ago -- kept me going, kept me staring. I'm surprised I wasn't bumping into people all the time with my face focused downward.

So, when a co-worker the other day, found the above card in the work parking lot, I was fascinated and super jealous. There are CARDS to be FOUND in the WORKING PARKING LOT????

I don't know who found the card, I just know it was found because the card appeared in our office with the accompanying note.

That card and the note sat together on a table in the newsroom. I don't know why it was brought to the newsroom. There are lots of rooms in the building. Two floors of rooms. People work in several of them. But maybe whoever found it knew that I collected cards? Still it wasn't left in my office where I could find it, it was just randomly placed on a table that I might happen to walk past.

I did walk past it, several times, over several days. I noted what it was, a guy I had never heard of on a set that didn't interest me much. But I was curious. Who was the Angels fan? Who was collecting Upper Deck Victory from 23 years ago?

The card exhibits all the signs of being stuffed into a pocket, all four corners are dinged and the card itself is a bit curled. But it's relatively clean, no dirt -- or tire tread marks.

The card sat there and sat there. Finally one day a week or two ago, I walked over and took the card. A co-worker -- a sports guy -- immediately turned around and asked "is that the baseball card?"

Then he said, "I've never heard of that guy."

Yeah, me neither. This is the first Matt Wise card in my collection. Upon researching him, I discovered that most of his cards are from around this time, when he was a rookie -- therefore card companies buried collectors with cards of him (wish they'd stop this practice). Then Wise disappeared off cards, until around 2007, 2008. That's when he was with the Brewers and Upper Deck put him in a couple of its very large sets. He's in the 2008 UD set. I'm surprised I didn't have that card, I bought a fair amount of '08 Upper Deck.

And that's the end of the story.

 

Except for this:

 

I went to the monthly card show yesterday and returned without buying anything. Now that I have a monthly show, I hate what I've become.

 

But I'm discovering that card show atmosphere is important to me. The show moved to a larger banquet hall, but they've still crammed as many tables and dealers in as possible, the aisles are barely wide enough for one person, let alone two people -- some very large people -- walking back and forth and kids darting in and out. I NEED SPACE. 

 

I find the set-up affects whether I buy cards or not. I had card #2 of the 1969 Topps set -- the last of the leaders cards I need -- in my hand ready to buy but after being bumped and jostled and not really being sure whose discount box I was looking through, I gave up. Five minutes later, I was out the door.

I think the reason I like discarded cards on the ground is that they are FREE CARDS. That feeling of being a kid with no money and desiring cards all the time has stayed with me all these years.

That's probably why I could walk away from a better card, the '69 leaders card at the card show that cost money, but am keeping the worse card, the worse-conditioned card, in my collection. Because it is free.

I really would like to know who owned it before though. And why.